We’ve almost made it alllll the way through 2017! (phew!) Give yourself and your team a pat on the back for conquering 2017 – and for all the exciting plans ahead in 2018. As we look back, we’re celebrating by recapping our top read posts of 2017, and you’ll notice a trend. The SaaStr community loved our posts, old and new, on a particular topic: sales, which comes as zero surprise to us. It’s not too late to catch up on all the posts, and get ready to hire your sales team in 2018!
#1 – A Basic Structure for a VP, Sales Comp Plan: 50/50/25+
For sales, incentives are critical, and the VP Sales will likely be the seemingly most expensive hire you ever make. That’s stressful. Jason tells you what he did and what he learned from it.
#2 – An Initial Sales Rep Comp Plan to Lower Your Stress
From VP Sales comp plans to your first Sales Reps’ comp plans – what works, what doesn’t, and how to implement a plan for your startup to lower your stress.
#3 – 10 Great Questions to Ask a VP Sales During an Interview
Before you decide on comp plans for your sales team, here’s ten questions on what to ask your potential VP Sales during the interview.
#4 – What a Great VP Sales Actually Does. Where The Magic Is. And When to Hire One.
In SaaS, #1 most common mis-hire is the VP/head of sales. Because in SaaS start-ups, it seems like the majority of first VP Sales fail. Here’s a great script from Jason to help you make the right hire.
#5 – SaaS Financial Plan 2.0 (from Christoph Janz)
A quick break from hiring sales for a quick shoutout to P9 superstar Christoph Janz on his core financial model and plan.
#6 – Benchmarks in SaaS for Seed and Series A Rounds in 2017
How did 2017 play out in terms of round sizes compared to this post? Find out how we suggested to benchmark Seed and A rounds earlier this year.
#7 – If You’re Going to Do a SaaS Start-Up … You Have to Give it 24 Months
Should you start a SaaS company? Here’s the three definitive questions Jason asks those who are thinking of starting their own SaaS companies.
#8 – Why Lead Velocity Rate (LVR) Is The Most Important Metric in SaaS
Sales pipelines have big data quality issues. Here’s why LVR is a better metric, and why it should be your key metric and why you should hold your marketing team to it. Every month.
#9 – The 48 Types of VP Sales. Make Deadly Sure You Hire the Right One.
Okay, we’re back on track about sales teams. There’s 48 types of VP Sales, and from The Evangelist to Mr. Dashboards, here’s how to make sure you hire the right one.
#10 – How much does a VC partner earn?
Let’s round out the best of list with the age-old question: how much does a VC partner earn? Jason spills how he thinks of it, from one of his top Quora answers of the year.
That’s a wrap on 2017. What SaaStr content do you want to see more of? Tell us in the comments down below.
See you in 2018!
